


Legends of...High School

by nirejseki



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, spoilers through 1.12
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 12:25:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6657643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nirejseki/pseuds/nirejseki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rip Hunter is desperate to regain his honor and show up his former colleagues, the Time Masters.  To do that, he has gathered up a group of individuals to help him research the life and times of one Vandal Savage so that they can win the  historical biography competition and become Legends.</p>
<p>(This started as an attempt to figure out how all of the Legends' hijinks would work if they were all in high school, specifically to demonstrate that it was impossible to apply the high school AU fanfic trope to this fandom.  As it turns out, I was wrong: when all the major characters explicitly have the emotional intelligence of teenagers, everything works so much better.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Legends of...High School

Rip straightened his trusty duster. Time to meet the team that was going to help him change everything. Time to become _Legends_.

He walked into the History classroom which had been put aside for their use and announced, “I have been tasked with assembling an elite team to determine the life and times of one Vandal Savage and thereby win the annual Local Historical Biography Mystery Search. I have selected all of your for unique abilities. I could have chosen anyone, and I have chosen the eight of you. I certainly hope that you won’t let me down.”

His inspiring words were met with silence. Somehow, that silence managed to be extremely doubtful.

Rip looked around the room at his crew. 

Raymond Palmer: something of a mechanics and chemistry wiz, he’d competed in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for several years and was a recognized powerhouse on the chemistry mathletes team. He was also excessively fond of World of Warcraft, as well as of telling everyone about it in excessive detail. History and biography weren’t his specialty, but having a genius on your team had to be a good idea. 

Jefferson Jackson and Martin Stein: two foster brothers, one a sophomore, the other a senior. Jax, as he preferred to be called, had a promising future on the football team as a quarterback, the most intellectual role, but his academic credentials were not as promising. Stein had signed him up for the project without his consent so that he could clean up his resume for college. He still looked pretty pissed about it. Stein was already admitted to several colleges with scholarships, planning on doing chemistry and physics; his grades were exceedingly high. Unfortunately, most of the time, so was he. 

Sara Lance: daughter of a police detective and reputably a member – or former member – of a motorcycle gang known only as the “League of Assassins”. Her attendance insured that their intimidation factor against the other teams they would be competing against would be high, and access to the local law enforcement (and their records) would be an advantage other teams would not have.

Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall: the notorious “off-and-on” couple of the school (every high school had at least one), always breaking up and getting back together again in flaming high drama. However, they were each a part of the oldest families in the area, going back hundreds of years. Their families would certainly have known Savage before.

Mick Rory and Leonard Snart: a pair of juvenile delinquents, with a known penchant for theft, violence, and (in Mr. Rory’s case) arson. Despite his record, Leonard Snart was well known to be exceptionally clever; his grades on whatever homework he did turn in were stellar and his last-minute participation in the high school’s Quiz Bowl team last year had very nearly taken them to the state finals before he had been obliged to drop out, citing family issues. While Mr. Snart had no incentive to join their team, Mr. Rory was on academic probation. Rip had convinced Mrs. Gideon, the History teacher and their academic sponsor, to insist on Mr. Rory’s participation in the Mystery Search as a condition of his probation. As he had hoped, Mr. Snart had then signed up voluntarily, stating that he needed to be there to watch Rory’s back. 

This was his team. This was the team that was going to defeat Vandal Savage’s biography, track him through all of space and time, and make it all the way to the finals. 

“You’re that kid that transferred from the Time Masters Academy last year,” Snart observed. Rory grunted in agreement. “I hear they’re pretty big on the whole Mystery Search thing.”

“Whereas I don’t think our school has _ever_ participated in the Mystery Search before,” Lance added, crossing her arms in front of her and looking dangerous. “Elite team, huh? Unique abilities? Us?”

“Indeed. I believe that together, we can make our mark in the world, in the historical community. That together, we are destined for _greatness_.”

“Right,” Kendra said, leaning back and popping a bubble gum bubble. “So why’d you really pick us?”

Rip deflates a little. “As it happens,” he said a little crossly. “You need 8 to 10 people for each team, and you were the only ones available.”

“Yeah,” Lance says. “That’s what I thought.”

They start by approaching one of Kendra’s relatives who knows some details about Vandal Savage, a Professor Aldus Boardman. They are trailed by another individual, one who Rip was able to identify as the current Kronos of the school – having been part of the Time Master Academy, winner of the Mystery Search for the last however many years running, he knew all their tactics. They recruited individuals at other schools to work for them, passing along information and sabotaging the other school’s teams where possible. Such individuals – there was typically one at a time, the Time Masters’ extracurricular budget rarely stretched much further – were exceedingly dangerous and were called “Kronos”, after the Titan of Time, devourer of his own children. 

The current Kronos is not particularly subtle, another delinquent – albeit one that makes Snart roll his eyes and mutter imprecations about incompetence – but Rip knows that he’s only the first. The Time Masters will seek a better individual to turn into their tool once the initial surveillance is concluded. 

Professor Boardman is very helpful, giving them information on Savage starting from his birth and initial rise to prominence in Egypt, Missouri, before explaining his role in a nuclear conference in 1970s. Unfortunately, he is only able to assist them for one meeting, as he is due to fly out to attend a conference in Norway. They will not be able to rely on his advice going forward, which Rip had been counting on. Rip is still somewhat appeased; if Professor Boardman is out of the country, he cannot be easily accessed by the Time Masters and his team will remain one step ahead.

They go to the library as a team to look further into the mysteries of the 1970s, including references to a famous dagger once owned by Kendra’s ancestor and later possessed by Savage. Snart offers to lift it out of the museum in which it is located, citing boredom, but Ray blows up the plan by going to check it out before they were ready. Since the museum is publically known, Rip has no doubt that Ray’s actions have alerted Kronos – and thereby the Time Masters – to the location of the dagger. The information the museum has is still useful, but it won’t give them the leg up on the competition that they need. 

Also, avoiding getting anyone arrested is probably a good idea.

(Lance, Snart, and Rory somehow find time in the middle of their first outing to go to a bar. Even excluding how they managed to get in and get served, given that they were all underage, the bar fight they start nearly gets them arrested _anyway_ , which could have resulted in them losing half their team and being disqualified. 

“We’ve barely begun, and already this is the worst, unmitigated disaster of my career,” Rip told them.

“We were just getting into the spirit of the 1970s, Rip,” Lance – who had permitted the team to call her ‘Sara’ – said. “You know, fun, beer –”

“Captain and Tennille,” Rory added. “My mother plays it. A lot.”

Rip just groaned.)

Alas, this inauspicious beginning continues. Within a week, one of their team members is struck down. 

Carter develops mono and is required to take the rest of the semester off. 

Kendra is extremely upset; apparently she had called their relationship off only a few days before on the grounds that they were not really old enough for such serious dating, but she hadn’t expected not to see him for months and months. 

“A whole semester before I see him again!” she cried out. “That’s like a whole _lifetime_ in high school!”

“Isn’t mono spread by kissing?” Sara had wondered aloud. “How the _hell_ do you not have it?”

“It isn’t important how Ms. Saunders has or does not have it,” Rip had quickly interjected. “What’s important is that she _doesn’t_ , which means that she can remain on the team. With the removal of Mr. Hall, we are down to the minimum eight people required, which means we can’t lose anyone else. Please keep this in mind. Don’t worry, Kendra, we will carry on in Carter’s name!”

While Kendra is still mourning her lover’s untimely departure, comforted by a sympathetic Ray, Sara suggests looking into Savage’s financial resources by visiting the bank. Snart and Rory volunteer to come along, which Rip vetoes immediately. He’s not ready for anyone on their team to graduate into actual bank robbery. 

Sara gets into a fistfight in the bank’s parking lot. 

Everything is a disaster. They even end up having to break into Carter’s sickbed to retrieve a book about Savage that he had checked out of the library. Rip is deeply worried about any of them getting sick. Stein swears that mono is not contagious via sharing air space, but Rip really doesn’t want to risk it. The extraction of the book may be the only thing that goes right in the whole day.

Rip decides it’s time to take charge again. 

“We’re going to break into the storage section of the library, where the older books are kept when not in use,” he announces at their next meeting. Rory perks up at the idea of illegal activity. 

“Wait, you mean the Pentagon?” Rays says, also looking excited. “I’ve always wanted to get in there.”

“The _Pentagon_?” Snart says scornfully. 

“Well, yeah,” Ray says. “It’s in that really weirdly shaped room, you know?”

“Mr. Snart, do you think you can obtain a library passkey for us?” Rip asked. “We would need one from one of the reference librarians.”

Snart gives him a disbelieving look, but gets up and ambles aimlessly around the library for a few minutes before returning with a smug look.

“You didn’t even _do_ anything,” Jax protests. 

Snart pulls out a reference librarian’s key card. And several people’s wallets.

“Oh god oh god we’re all going to jail,” Ray whimpers. 

“We have the key!” Rip interjects before Ray and Jax are tempted to make a run for it. “We can activate the second part of the plan now!”

Their infiltration of the Pentagon goes surprisingly well. They obtain information about Savage’s moves in the 1980s – an association with Russians. 

Their exit isn’t perfect (Stein and Jax get into an argument resulting in a pulled fire alarm, but at least they’re not caught), but at last, they have a lead that Rip is fairly confident that the Time Masters have not yet obtained.

That’s when he gets a text.

“It’s from Zaman Druce,” Rip says grimly. “He was on my Mystery Search team when I was back at the Time Masters. He says he wants to meet up, share some basic information. Background, that sort of thing.”

“So it’s a trap,” Rory says, looking bored.

“It may be,” Rip allows. “But I think it’s still worthwhile to go meet with him. Maybe he’ll let something slip.”

In the end, the only thing Druce offers is that if Rip transfer back to the Time Masters Academy, he will be permitted to join their team for the year. When Rip rejects the offer, Druce sets the current Kronos on him.

Rory knocks him out with a single punch.

“Always hated that kid,” he says with a disdainful look. 

Later, reconvening in the library, Rip lays out his newest plan: to go and investigate the local Russian gourmet store, where reside the town’s only real Russians. The owner is notorious for telling long, uninteresting stories, but Rip is certain they’ll be able to find a Savage connection there if he can only look through their records. But for that, they need an “in”: Valentina Vostok, who works there part-time after school.

Ray volunteers to ask her to help.

After he gets brutally shot down, Snart wanders over and flirts his way close enough to lift the key she uses when she’s in charge of closing the store. 

“Don’t say I don’t make sacrifices for this team,” he quips, settling into his chair in their classroom and leaning back into Rory, who slings an arm over his shoulder and looks a little appeased. Rip has no idea why Rory has been in such a bad mood all afternoon, as they _did_ succeed in obtaining the key; but regardless, he’s pleased that it’s passed.

They enter the store later that evening, much to Jax’s dismay. (“Y’all do know what a criminal conviction will do to my chances of getting a football scholarship, right?” he asks dubiously. “It’s for a history competition, Jax,” Stein says breezily, stealing his joint back from Sara. “I’m sure they’d understand. Besides, haven’t half the NCAA football stars been arrested for domestic violence or something?” “That is _totally not true_ ,” Jax had hissed, looking mortally offended.) 

Rip is still not sure what happened – the records turn up nothing, and then Valentina ambushes them with some very large, very tough-looking friends which may or may not be involved with the Russian mob. They are forced to abandon their search abruptly and somehow Ray, Rory and Stein have managed to get themselves locked in the basement, with Rory trapped in the cheese and frozen goods locker. 

Their rescue attempt goes well, at least, though Snart objects strongly to the section which involves dressing up like hipsters (the only individuals of high school age to frequent the store). Rip orders Sara to start a fight as a distraction, but Snart objects to that, too, telling her that her contribution to the team can be as more than just violent muscle.

(Rip isn’t too sure about that, but Sara looks so pleased by the notion that he grudgingly concurs.)

Mick hugs Ray for getting him out of the cheese locker, where apparently he was traumatized by the giant slabs of caviar. Snart looks oddly put out about it.

Rip is cheered by the signs of growing team comradery when, naturally, next week’s meeting is utterly derailed. Mick wants to go to a college party he has been invited to, at a club known as “2046”, instead of going to the study group. Snart drags him to the group meeting instead and they spend a good portion of the meeting arguing viciously in whispers in the corner.

Snart has really become a surprising asset to the team. Rip overhears Mick telling him that he’s doing “that thing” again, where he gets obsessively invested in fixing badly-run group projects because of his burning hatred of incompetence. (Rip assumes he didn’t hear right because obviously _their_ team isn’t being run incompetently; he’s the one running it!) Snart denies that he’s obsessed. Mick points out that all his probation requires is _being_ on the team; there’s no reason why he can’t just drop out, stop participating. Snart tells him to get over himself and do his fucking part. 

They end the meeting sitting on opposite sides of the classroom from each other for the first time since the project began. 

Meanwhile, Sara spends the entire meeting on the phone with an ex-boyfriend who is now in college. Apparently “Oliver” is having some sort of crisis of confidence. 

Rip buries his head in his hands and thanks god that the rest of team still makes some progress.

Unfortunately, they run into a bit of a dead spot after that. They’ve exhausted all their current leads and have written up sections on everything they’ve found so far, but for the moment, nothing. Rip reluctantly turns to his ace in the hole – he still has the Google Docs password from his old Mystery Search team with the Time Masters. There isn’t much there, but he does manage to discover that one of the members of the team, Eve Baster, codename “Acheron”, has gone out to the docks to search for some information.

“It’s a trap,” Sara sings out.

“Don’t be absurd, they don’t know I have this password,” Rip snaps.

It’s a trap.

They very nearly get arrested for trespassing by the private security forces around the warehouse club they had been lead to, saved only by Stein’s timely intervention (apparently, he had engaged in some illict plant-related transactions with several individuals involved and was able to vouch for them). Rory manages to be _entirely_ useless the entire time, refusing to fight when needed. And when the security asked him where the rest of the team is hiding, he actually _told them_. Rip loses his temper and calls him a useless piece of meat. Rory gets pissed and storms off. 

Snart says he’ll handle it, but he shows up at the next meeting without Rory, looking grim and forbidding whenever anyone tries to ask him about it. 

Regardless, there is one bright spot: as thanks for getting _her_ out of trouble with the security guards, Eve Baxter gives them a lead about Savage’s actions in the late 1950s.

“I’d be happy to lead the research into the 1950s,” Stein offers eagerly. “It’s such an idyllic time!”

“Idyllic?” Sara says incredulously. 

“Sure,” Jax says. “If you’re _white_.”

“And a _man_ ,” Sara adds. “And _straight_. And…”

“Okay, okay, I get the point. You can all help with the research, add in your perspectives of the time.”

“Damn right we will,” Jax said. 

It turns out Savage was involved in some sort of medical experiments at the time, as well as offering his assistance with some sort of detective investigation. It’s really quite fascinating. 

Unfortunately, the next meeting is entirely messed up. Everyone shows up at different times and at different places, and Ray, Kendra and Sara are left sitting in the library for two hours before anyone figures out where they are. By that point, Sara has already wandered out to go hang out with the members of her old motorcycle gang and has to be dragged back. 

It turns out they were deliberately sabotaged by the new Kronos: Mick Rory. He’d told them all different times for the meeting, striking deep at their greatest vulnerability.

“I wouldn’t say it quite like that,” Kendra says dubiously.

“You have _no idea_ how hard it is to find a meeting time that accommodates Jax’s football training schedule, Ray’s chemistry mathlete meetings, Sara’s karate classes…”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. No need to hiss at me.”

Snart looks at Rory. “You seriously sold us out to the _prep school kids_?” he asks.

Rory crosses his arms. “It’s not like you care. Besides, they pay.”

Snart shoves him.

Rory shoves him back.

They repeat these actions several times with increasing violence before stopping and staring each other for what appears to Rip to be an unnecessarily long time.

“You could’ve blocked that last one,” Rory says, eyes narrow.

Snart shrugs a little, looks at the ground. “You want out,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’m not gonna stop you. You should get things that you want.”

Rory is silent for a few more minutes. “You idiot,” he finally says. “I was just sick of the _project_ , you know that, right?” Snart shrugs noncommittally. “Ugh, you _asshole_ ,” Rory says. “Fine. You want me to pick, in or out? Then I’m in. I’m all in.”

“We’re happy to have you back on the team, Mr. Rory,” Rip says eagerly.

Rory stares at him blankly. “The…team,” he repeats. “Uh. Yeah. The team. Back in on the team. That too.” He weakly waves one hand. “Woot.”

Alas, their attempt to extract information from the law firm that Savage was associated with late in his career, Degaton, Degaton, & Savage, does not go as successfully. The futuristic vibe of the entire place is a bit creepy, and they aren’t able to extra any information from the obnoxious paralegal. Also, the entire team vetoes Rip’s perfectly reasonable suggestion that they take him to a more neutral place – by force if necessary – to see if he’d be more willing to reveal the firm’s secrets there. For a team made up of a bunch of people with criminal records, they get squeamish about the strangest things.

Also, Kendra and Ray have started dating, but Kendra has been worrying about what might happen when Carter returns to school next semester. At length. Loudly. To anyone who will listen.

Rip tries to sympathize with her by sharing his own story of woe – his girlfriend at the Time Masters, Miranda, had been on his team and had moved far away, leaving them in a long distance relationship that had faded out just around the time the Mystery Search competition was announced; he knew if only he could win the competition he would be able to show her that he was worthy and win her back – but oddly enough Kendra didn’t seem particularly moved.

The next meeting, it’s actually Rip’s fault that they’re distracted. It’s just that PE has started up an old-fashioned square dancing segment and they’ve brought in Jonah Hex to be the instructor. Rip used to be in his troupe, only to have a panic attack and drop out right before their big competition in Calvert. It’s all very embarrassing and he turns bright red every time Mr. Hex looks at him. And every time he thinks about Mr. Hex. Which happens a lot more than he’s really comfortable. Really, it’s just a horrible week all around.

“So you’re actually really awful at group projects,” Sara says. “That…actually explains a lot.”

“Rip’s just trying to prove himself,” Kendra says, patting his shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll do better this time.” Her fingers dig into his shoulder. God, it’s like she has _talons_. “Right, Rip?”

“Y-yes,” he stutters. “Of course. Much better.”

A group of angry thugs come to attack Rory for backing out of some deal he’d made with them, tipped off to their location by the Time Masters. Working together, they defeat them almost effortlessly.

Rip takes heart. His team has gotten so much better than they were in the beginning, _plus_ they had collected plenty of unique intel on Savage. They might stand a shot at winning this.

Then the Time Master send the Pilgrim and all that confidence falls apart.

He remembers the role of the Pilgrim; it was always something he despised even when he was with the Time Masters himself. Using a Kronos to spy and sabotage, that was one thing. But the Pilgrim – she was a _bitch_. She took no prisoners, doing whatever it took to distract people from the project, being perfectly willing to hospitalize opposing team members or members of their family. She was a _monster_.

And there’s no way to anticipate her moves.

Someone sets Rory’s house on fire (again), causing him to be called in by his parole officer. As it happens, Rory and Snart had apparently been in the park by the school at the time. Rip has no idea what they were doing that was so notable that it garnered them several witnesses (all female, for some reason) who were willing to testify as to their location, but he’s devoutly grateful for it. When asked, Snart just says that he and Rory were “working out some lingering issues” from their argument. 

Next, Sara is attacked while going to visit her father’s work. Since her father is a _police detective_ , the attack is swiftly spoiled, although the perpetrator managed to escape unscathed. Rip bitterly regrets the detective’s unfortunate reluctance to discharge his service weapon. Good lord, man, it’s 2016! Hasn’t he heard about the police brutality statistics? The low likelihood of being convicted for on-the-job violence?

“Yeah, man,” Jax said, looking disturbed. “I’m pretty sure that’s why he _didn’t_ fire his gun. You…you do know those are bad things, right?”

Snart’s late to the next meeting. Even Rory makes it before he does, which is just…wrong. Snart’s punctuality is notorious. 

He storms in thirty minutes late, just as they’re starting to consider calling the police and possibly the military. “Your Pilgrim just tried to go after my baby sister,” he snarls. “At her _elementary school_.”

“Is Lisa okay?” Rory asks immediately.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” Snart says, waving the question off. “She stabbed the bitch with a pair of scissors. But doing that got her _suspended_.”

Rip’s a little concerned at the thought of an elementary school child stabbing someone with scissors – the Pilgrim was a bitch, but she is just a high school student and he doesn’t want a reprise of the whole “Murder is Bad” lecture from Sara and Kendra just two days back – but Rory looks unduly worried for someone who has three arrests for assault on his record. 

“Does he know yet?” he asked.

“They’re probably calling him later today,” Snart says grimly. He turns to Rip. “Rip, you got a text from that guy at the Time Masters, right?”

“Yes?” Rip says warily.

“Give it to me.”

Rip surrenders his phone. Snart goes outside and comes back ten minutes later, looking satisfied. “They’re calling off the Pilgrim,” he announces. “And she’ll be calling the school immediately to explain that she provoked the attack, so with any luck they’ll revoke the suspension.” He tosses Rip back his phone. 

“What did you _say_ to them?” Rip asks, fascinated.

Snart pats Rory on the shoulder. “Oh, nothing much. I remembered that the Time Masters Academy has a very expensive, very _wooden_ clubhouse building on their campus, so we had a quick conversation about structural engineering.”

“Structural engineering, huh?” Sara says with a grin. “Let me guess – stability of the foundations? Flashover points?”

“Likelihood of transfer to other buildings by means of convection as opposed to conduction, possibility of pyrolysis after seven hours due to the shape of the building, concurrent-flow spread causing rapid growth due to the combustibility of ceiling materials used in buildings built in that time period,” Rory added with a disturbingly fond smile.

Everyone stared at him. Rory looked back at them. “What?” he asks, defensively. “Fire _is_ my hobby. Everyone knows that.”

Ray looked bizarrely intrigued. “If I asked you what the first law of thermodynamics was, what would you say?” he asked.

“d _U_ = _T_ d _S_ – _P_ d _V_ \+ ∑μ idni, obviously,” Rory replies suspiciously.

“Obviously, yes,” Stein mused. He and Ray share a speculative look. 

“Mick, have you ever considered joining–” Ray starts. 

“Hands off, Palmer,” Snart snapped.

“I just meant –”

“ _No_.”

“He didn’t know the difference between pre-natal and post-natal care,” Kendra muttered to Sara. 

“Just goes to show, you know what you care to know,” Sara muttered back.

“ _If we can get back to business_ ,” Rip said. “We now have only a month left to complete the project. We need to focus on locating Vandal Savage and moving our research forward. There is one place in time where we know Savage to be: on the pinnacle of Vandal Savage’s career, his involvement in the power politics of the era. I know we were keeping that for last because of the risk of running into the Time Masters and the concerns that it wouldn’t provide sufficient additional information, but we don’t have a choice.”

He pauses dramatically.

“We have, quite literally, run out of time.”

(Did Snart _have_ to start doing that obnoxious ‘slow clap’ every time Rip made an ominous statement? It’s starting to get on his nerves.)

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, since this fic goes through each episode, it still lacks the finale. I brought it to a close where we are now (episode 1.12) and will probably update it once the series is over. 
> 
> I don't even know why I'm so charmed by this idea, given my usual distaste for high school AUs, but Rip being explicitly such an oblivious goober makes me like him so much more than I do in canon. He's still obsessively single minded, terrible at making plans and painfully oblivious to the social dynamics around him - just like canon - but it's all noticeably more forgivable in a high schooler.


End file.
